The present invention relates generally to food processing machines, and more particularly to an improved machine for mixing and kneading dough in the preparation of bread or the like.
Industrial sized dough-making machines heretofore used for preparing dough for commercial bread making are generally large batch type machines. Typically, the machines prepare dough in batches of a few thousands of pounds and consume large amounts of energy to perform the required mixing and kneading process on the dough. In so doing, the machine often causes the dough to over-heat unless the machine is equipped with a cooling system to maintain the dough at a desired temperature and prevent fermentation of any yeast content within the dough. The cooling system for the machine also consumes significant amounts of energy. Batch machines typically may require about one-half hour to mix the ingredients and develop gluten within the dough and therefore does little more than mimic mixing and kneading by hand. By reason of its large size, the presently used batch machine is awkward, labor intensive and therefore expensive to operate, to clean and to maintain, and quality of the product is only checked and maintained on the basis of the very large batch size for which the batch machine operates.
Background information related to automatic bread making machines and appliances for kneading dough may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,356 to Dornbush et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,198 to Dickson, Jr. et al and the references cited therein, the contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Relevant prior art dough making systems and methods include a method for producing dough disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,569 to Muller wherein dry ingredients are measured and mixed on a continuous basis and liquid ingredients are injected into the dry ingredient stream. The ingredients are then transferred to a temperature controlled kneading chamber that generates a continuous stream of dough. The dough stream is discharged from the kneading chamber without benefit of rollers or stress inducing apparatus through a discharge conduit of predetermined flow resistance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,046 to Guibert an automatic dough producing system is disclosed having a controllable mixing stage into which are fed flour and a dough-forming solution to produce a paste that is then supplied to a development stage yielding dough. In the development stage, the incoming paste is fed through a lateral inlet to a screw rotating within an elongated tube at a variable speed, the inlet position being adjustable along the screw to vary the length of that portion of the screw which acts to knead and develop the paste to produce the dough.
The invention described herein solves or substantially reduces in critical importance shortcomings with previously existing dough making machines and systems as suggested in the foregoing discussion by providing an automatic mixer-kneader machine for dough making that includes a moving endless conveyor belt supported by a pair of rollers and powered by a motor, the belt disposed for receiving dry ingredients for the dough from one or more powder sifters and liquid ingredients from one or more liquid sprays in order to form a cake of the liquid and dry ingredients on the moving belt, means for stripping the cake from the belt and transferring the cake to one or more high speed rollers for kneading the cake into a gluten developed layer of dough for forming into loaves. The machine described by the invention is intended for substantially continuous operation utilizing a fraction of the power required by conventional dough making systems.
It is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved food-processing machine.
It is another principal object of the invention to provide an improved machine for mixing and kneading dough in the preparation of bread type foods.
It is another object of the invention to provide a machine for continuous mixing and kneading of dough for preparation of bread foods.
It is another object of the invention to provide a machine for mixing and kneading dough that has minimal in-process inventory associated with its operation.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine for mixing and kneading dough that has low power requirements for operation.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine for mixing and kneading dough that is characterized by improved in-process quality control of the dough product as compared to prior art machines.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine for mixing and kneading dough that is inexpensive to operate and maintain.
It is another object of the invention to provide a machine for mixing and kneading dough that has minimal cooling requirements associated with its operation.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as a detailed description of representative embodiments proceeds.
In accordance with the foregoing principles and objects of the invention, a low power consuming dough-making machine is provided that includes sources of liquid and dry ingredients for the dough, a movable conveyor system for receiving thereon layers of liquid and dry ingredients from the sources thereof to form a cake of ingredients of the desired dough composition, and a plurality of high speed rollers for kneading the cake of ingredients to the desired consistency for the dough product.